Untamable

"Can you catch Leviathan with a hook

or put a noose around its jaw?

Can you tie it with a rope through the nose

or pierce its jaw with a spike?"

Job 41:1-2 NLT

Legend has it that she hides in the secret parts of a lake whose depth reaches up to 754 feet.  She is elusive, only showing herself to a few people, and rarely sticking around long enough to be photographed.  Like the so-called Big Foot, many believe she's there, but there is little evidence of her existence.  Still, those who have seen her describe a mammoth creature similar to the Leviathan.  

If these large sea creatures are so untamable, how much more powerful and mysterious is their Creator?

Unsearchable.  "No one can measure the depths of his understanding." (Isaiah 40:28b NLT)   "Oh, how great are God's riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!" (Romans 11:33 NLT)  "How great are your works, LORD, how profound your thoughts!"  (Psalm 92:5)  "Many, LORD my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us.  None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare." (Psalm 40:5)

David sang about the unknowable depths of God's understanding, especially of his intimate ways and of the plan He has for His children.  He marveled at how God holds it all together, saying "Your [infinite] knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high about me, I cannot reach it." (Psalm 139 6 AMP)  This man after God's own heart spent a lot of time pondering this unsearchable characteristic of God.  

With such a deep mind that is able to know all things, perceive all things, and take in all of His creation at once, how can I doubt His ability to care for me, comfort me, and meet me right where I am?  Why do I think I must put on a front, be who I think He wants me to be, pretend everything is okay when it is clearly not?  He knows.  He understands.  He gets it.

Since God's understanding of His creation is beyond my comprehension, He is certainly able to take care of me in just the way I need.

Mighty.  I think of a warrior, fighting an impossible battle and despite the irrefutable odds, winning.  Single handedly.  Shattering expectations.  How can one man secure victory against such a foe?  Yet Jesus did.  He conquered Death, the one enemy no one else could defeat.  The inevitable adversary that mankind dreads yet must one day face, and lose.  Christ single-handledly conquered Death (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).

Jesus is Mighty God (Isaiah 9:6).  He is mighty in battle, able to save me from my enemy (Psalm 24:8).  Is there any foe that can overpower Him, that He cannot subdue?  No.  Therefore, I can trust Him to fight my battles.  

When the pit of gloom threatens to suck me in, enveloping me in darkness, I can call on Jesus to set my feet on the solid rock (Psalm 40:2).  When the cares of this world bully me into a helpless heap of anxiety, I can call on Jesus to fill me with peace as I thank Him for all His goodness (Philippians 4:6-8).  When I face the impossible, feeling overwhelmed with the hopelessness of it all, I can call on Jesus to show me that nothing is impossible through Him (Philippians 4:13).

Since Jesus is my mighty warrior, I can call on Him to fight my battles for me.

Limitless.  I tried in vain to get our mama cat to leave her newborn kittens in the laundry room.  Time and time again, I would retrieve the babies from underneath my daughter's bed and carry them into their new home.  Without fail, Middy would pick them up by the scruff of the neck, one at a time, and return them to what she had deemed their rightful place.  I could not make this cat go against her God-given motherly instincts.

In the same way that God's creation cannot be completely tamed and conformed into man's idea of how things should work, God is limitless.  I cannot put Him in the neat little box I have labeled as "God."  He is bigger than I can fathom.  Nothing is impossible for Him and He is not constrained by time, the laws of nature or physics.  "Is the LORD's arm too short?" God asked Moses when he questioned God's ability to provide a months' worth of meat for the entire nation of Israel (Numbers 11:23).

Therefore, I must not limit God, restraining Him by my parameters of understanding and experience.  Simply due to the fact that I can't imagine something occurring, does it mean God can't do it?  Just because I've never seen a thing happen, does it mean God can't surprise me?  

Since God is limitless, I can expect the unexpected from Him.

God is untamable.  His ways are unsearchable, His power is mighty, and His scope is limitless.  Therefore, I can trust Him to do whatever it takes to care for me.  Let today be the first day when I acknowledge the unfathomable nature of the Lord our God.

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can trust this God who cannot be understood or restrained.

How do I limit God?

When do I doubt that God can help me?